The United States Department of Agriculture has awarded more than $8 million to hydroelectric power plant projects in Connecticut, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont under the Rural Energy for America Program, including $275,000 to Putnam Greenpower’s project in Connecticut.

The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal that wind will generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030.

Wisdom House will host a dedication and activation of 80 solar photovoltaic panels that are newly installed on the roof of Spruce Brook Barn. The event is planned for Thursday, Aug. 11, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Four local firehouses have installed solar panels — a move that the departments hope will save money and promote clean energy.

Connecticut’s first 22-foot hydrogen-powered bus launched today. Developed by the Greater New Haven Transit District, this HyRide vehicle is the first of its kind to serve the senior population.

A new hydrogen-powered bus was dedicated at the Miller Library in Hamden Tuesday. Many took rides around downtown in the “Plug-in Electric Fuel Cell Bus,” the first “HyRide” vehicle in Connecticut to serve the senior population.

Coca-Cola’s bottling plant on Main Street unveiled its new fuel cells on Friday morning — the result of a collaboration between the beverage company, UTC Power, the town of East Hartford and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.

A segment of “Empowering Connecticut” features Cheshire and its efforts in energy conservation. The Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge is featured within this report as one of the town’s newest initiatives. The show will air on June 23 at 8:30 p.m.

Theoretically the V-shaped shelter with 40 parking space, six electric vehicle charging stations (made by GE, of course), with 425 solar panels on top, can produce enough energy to power 20 homes or enough to charge 13 vehicles over the course of a day.

The opponents of a wind power project in town are feeling optimistic that the Connecticut Siting Council will not approve its construction, after a similar project proposed by the same company in the New Haven County town of Prospect was rejected. The council reviewed a 35-page summary of findings about the first Colebrook application. BNE
[continue reading...]

Engineers reported no “fatal flaws” that could permanently derail the project, and that the development of one or both dam sites offers Canton “the opportunity to generate essentially all of the power consumed by Town facilities through clean, renewable hydropower.”

Michael Devine, of the Earth Energy Alliance, writes that biodiesel is one of the few renewable energy technologies that has made its way out of the lab as a theoretical application, to become a viable renewable energy. Bioheat is ready for primetime distribution and consumer use today.

Energy experts, legislators and power companies in Connecticut are not rushing to embrace wind power. Skeptics say Connecticut simply isn’t windy enough.

In discussing a burgeoning plan to turn waste into clean energy, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said we have no energy policy and the state raids the energy conservation fund all the time.

Some small wind turbine projects are envisioned in various places in Connecticut.

New Haven’s City Hall moves forward Tuesday with plans to install a new green energy source in a now-empty plaza., the New Haven Independent reports.

The Connecticut Siting Council, best known for deciding where cell towers are placed, is about to tackle its first wind-power proposal, one that has already generated considerable controversy in Prospect.

On Friday, Oct. 15, Gateway Community College will take part in the national Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Day Odyssey, designed to educate the public about alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles.

Along with CL&P President Jeff Butler and Nissan reps, Rell lauded the launch of Nissan’s battery-powered car, the LEAF, which goes on sale in limited markets in December and will be available nationwide some time in 2011.

St. Joseph College, in West Hartford, Conn., is using solar energy to heat its swimming pool, produce electricity and brighten the minds of its students.